Positional adjustment device for casket beds

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a mechanism for elevating or lowering a bed within a casket comprising a vertical threaded rod or elevating screw which carries a stop member which can be adjustably positioned on the rod for adapting the mechanism for various casket heights.

United States Patent Kronas et al. 1 Sept. 19, 1972- [54] POSITIONALADJUSTMENT DEVICE [56] References Cited FOR CASKET BEDS UNITED STATESPATENTS [72] Inventors: Nicholas T. Krona, Danville;

Robert w Ehrich, Georgetown, 936,767 10/1909 Van Eyck ..248/125 UX bothof I11. 2,888,732 6/1959 Nelson ..27/l2 3,041,704 7/1962 Gruber ..27/12[731 Esad 3,147,oo3 5/1920 Johnson ..151/2o ux. [22] Filed: April 15,1971 a Primary Examiner-William H. Schultz [21] Appl' 134344Attorney-Woodard, Weikart, Emhardt & Naughton [52] US. Cl. ..248/288,5/328, 2874/1322, 57 ABSTRACT 51 Int. Cl. ..A47g 19/00 Disclosed is amechanism for elevating or lowering a 581 Field of Search ..248/l25,288, 404, 405, 410; bed within a casket comprising a vertical threadedrod or elevating screw which carries a stop member which can beadjustably positioned on the rod for adapting the mechanism for variouscasket heights.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures mimosa 19 I912 INVENTORS NICHOLAS KRQ QOBEKTEHRIQH BY 7 MMAML mm M I m m ATTORNEYS 4 M if Q \N //Z in conventionalfashion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The bed accommodating a body within a casketmust be adjustable as to height and, preferably, also as to attitude,particularly since open-casket display of the body requires a verticalposition differing from that required at closing of the casket.Vertically mounted, threaded elevating screws are often utilized in theprior art to accomplish the required adjustability. In such structuresthe bed is supported by a bracket which is threaded on threadedelevating rods located at the head of the bed or at both the head andfoot. Manual rotation of the threaded rod thus adjustably positions thebracket on-the rod and changes the bed position. It is a highlydesirable feature for such bed supporting mechanisms that they beadaptable to various casket heights and that they be capable ofconvenient installation and of being easily modified to give variouseffective lengths of the threaded rod serving as an elevating screw.

The position-adjusting mechanism of the present invention utilizes abracket at the base of the threaded shaft which freely accommodates theshaft. An abutment member, taking the form of an apertured disc orwasher, has an aperture diameter slightly greater than the sum of thethread minor diameter and the depth of the shaft thread, but less thanthe major diameter of the shaft thread, and this disc may be wobbled tothe desired place along the shaft length to define the effective lengthof the shaft by limiting thedepth the shaft extends into the basebracket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS bracket shown in section.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of the shaft and the abutmentmember.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring initially to FIG. 1,the bed frame may seem to be composed of a transverse head member 11 andlongitudinal side frame members 12 with spring construction 13 extendingbetween the frame members The bed positioning mechanism of the presentinvention is indicated generally at 14.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the bed positioning mechanism includes avertical threaded rod or shaft 16 which functions as an elevating screw.The rod 16 is mounted within a casket adjacent the transverse framemember 11. The mounting is accomplished by means of a foot or basebracket 21 which is generally U- shaped in configuration and is providedwith an aperture 22 which freely accommodates the threaded lower end ofthe shaft 16. Disposed on the upper face of the bracket 21 is a thrustplate 23 having a central aperture registering with the aperture 22 inthe bracket which also freely receives the threaded lower end of theshaft. It will be understood that the bracket 21 may be attached to thecasket base at the flange portion 214. The upper end of the shaft isjournaled by an upper mounting bracket 24 having a flange portion 248which may be secured to the upper margin of the casket sidewall or toany other suitable portion of the casket. It will be understood that thebracket 24 permits free rotation of the shaft 16 and the upper end ofthe shaft, the portion extending above the bracket 24, is adapted toreceive a crank member or other suitable means for manually rotating theshaft about its longitudinal axis.

As may best be seen in FIG. 2, a generally U-shaped bracket 28 has aflange portion 28a which is apertured to freely accommodate the threadedshaft 16 and has a lower flange portion 28b which is apertured so thatit must be threaded onto the shaft, rotation of the shaft serving tomove the bracket upwardly and downwardly on it depending upon thedirection of rotation. The central portion of the bracket 28 hasextending from it a threaded pin 31 which accommodates a bolt 32 and, bymeans of pads 33 serves to clamp to the bracket 28 a plate 34. The plate34 has riveted to it a bracket 36 having outwardly extending tongues 37,the tongues extending through apertures 38 in the transverse bed framemember 11. The function of the plate 34 and the clamping screw 31 is topermit the attitude of the casket bed frame to be varied, this structureforming no part of the present invention. From an inspection of FIG. 2,it will be evident that axial rotation of the shaft 16 serves toposition vertically the bracket 28 and the casket bed frame supported byit.

The means for defining the efiective length of the shaft 16, that is,its depth of insertion into the bracket 21, takes the form of a stopmember 41. The stop member is a disc having an aperture 42 (FIG. 4)centrally through it and the diameter of the member 41 is such that itengages the plate 23 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. In FIG. 4, the minordiameter of the threads formed on the shaft 16 is indicated at A and themajor diameter of the threads is indicated at B. The stop member 41 isshown in locked position on the shaft in which it is engaged with theplate 23 and, while the shaft is free to be rotated, the stop member 41prevents the shaft from dropping through the registering apertures inthe plate 23 and the bracket 21. The diameter of the aperture 42 in thestop member 41 is slightly greater than the sum of the minor diameter ofthe shaft threads and the depth of the thread, and is smaller than themajor diameter of the threads. Thus, when it is necessary to move thestop member 41 on the shaft, it can be manually displaced sidewardly toits broken line position of FIG. 4. In this position the aperture willclear the threads on one side of the shaft, permitting the stop memberto be tilted along the shaft over one thread, then moved sidewardly tothe opposite extreme position in which the stop member aperture willclear the shaft thread on the other side and the stop member may thenagain be tilted and raised. The stop member may thus be wobbl or walkedalong the shaft to the desired position, orienting the shaft 16 with thebracket 21 as desired, and with the stop member 41 again centeredsubstantially on the shaft, it will serve as a stop preventing the shaftfrom falling through the bracket 21. The effective lengths of the shaftmay thus be easily and conveniently adapted to various size caskets andvarious casket mounting positions.

We claim:

l. A position-adjusting mechanism for a casket bed or the likecomprising a bracket adapted to be attached to a bed frame, a threadedshaft extending through a thread accommodating aperture in said bracketwhereby axial rotation of said shaft shifts the position of said bracketalong the shaft, means for supporting said shaft vertically within acasket with its upper end accessible for manual rotation comprising abase support member adapted to be attached to a casket base andapertured to have freely inserted in it the lower end portion of saidthreaded shaft, an upper support member journaling the upper end of saidshaft and adapted to be attached to a casket, and a stop member flatwasher with its outer diameter larger than that of the aperture in saidbase suppoer member.

3. A position adjusting mechanism as claimed in claim 2 in which saidbase support member takes the form of a bracket of inverted U-shapedconfiguration with its shaft accommodating aperture located in itscentral web.

1. A position-adjusting mechanism for a casket bed or the likecomprising a bracket adapted to be attached to a bed frame, a threadedshaft extending through a thread accommodating aperture in said bracketwhereby axial rotation of said shaft shifts the position of said bracketalong the shaft, means for supporting said shaft vertically within acasket with its upper end accessible for manual rotation comprising abase support member adapted to be attached to a casket base andapertured to have freely inserted in it the lower end portion of Saidthreaded shaft, an upper support member journaling the upper end of saidshaft and adapted to be attached to a casket, and a stop member carriedon said shaft and adapted to engage said base support member, said stopmember having an aperture through which said shaft extends, saidaperture having a diameter greater than the sum of the minor diameter ofthe shaft thread and the depth of the shaft thread but less than themajor diameter of the shaft thread.
 2. A position-adjusting mechanism asclaimed in claim 1 in which said stop member takes the form of a flatwasher with its outer diameter larger than that of the aperture in saidbase suppoer member.
 3. A position adjusting mechanism as claimed inclaim 2 in which said base support member takes the form of a bracket ofinverted U-shaped configuration with its shaft accommodating aperturelocated in its central web.